Investment in Real Estate Will Revamp Economy, Says NIESV

Investment in Real Estate Will Revamp Economy, Says NIESV

By Fadekemi Ajakaiye

The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) has said that sustained investment in the real estate sector would revamp the nation’s economy.

The President and Chairman, National Council of NIESV, Chief Emmanuel Wike, who stated this at a press conference in Lagos recently, noted that Nigeria is going in and out of recession because of its dependence on crude oil as its major source of earnings.

Wike stated that Nigeria’s economy, being “highly dependent on crude oil, which accounts for more than 83% of the country’s total export earnings, according to the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), is highly vulnerable to fluctuations in crude oil prices and production. The economy as a result has been periodically or intractably challenged, slipping in and out of recession.”

He said the government should be ready to spend sizeable sum on infrastructure, must lead aggressive intervention in housing supply and come up with helpful policies to stimulate and deepen private sector participation in housing delivery if it sincerely desires to reflate and lift the economy out of the doldrums, lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty, and promote the much-desired social order.

“Government should channel more resources into other sectors of the economy, such as Security, Agriculture, Power, but more importantly to real estate and infrastructure,” he said.

He stated that more attention must be given to real estate and infrastructure either by direct investment, by partnering with the private sector, but most importantly by creating a more conducive environment for sustainable investment in these critical areas with clearly laid out and workable policies.

“Revamping the economy must be done largely through Investment in Real Estate and Infrastructure Development, and this must be done on a continuous basis,” he said.

“With a population of about 200 million, the several millions housing shortage (rightly or wrongly put at 17 million) provides incentives for investment. It is time to appreciate the fact that no other investment or medium of investment is comparable to real estate investment,” he said.

“The Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers join eminent men, women and organisations across the world to congratulate Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on her appointment as Director-General of the World Trade Organization” he said.

He stated that NIESV commended the General Council of the World Trade Organization for confirming the candidature of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a tested, trusted, and competent financial expert with several years’ experience in the financial sector at the national and international levels. “Her appointment is the triumph of excellence,” he said.

“We are confident that the former two-time Minister of Finance would bring the wealth of experience she had acquired over several decades to her new office, and this would make the WTO more impactful, especially in this period of global financial and economic challenges,” he said.

“We urge her to deploy her enormous experience, skills and competence to the management of WTO and take the organisation to greater heights. It is also expected of her to use her good offices to promote improved trade balances between Nigeria, Africa, and the developed nations,” he said.

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